Journalist to Duterte critics: “What has the investigation initiated by De Lima unearthed? Any solid proof?”

A post lambasting the Duterte critics for insisting that all drug-relating killings are extra-judicial killings is making the rounds online.

In a Facebook post, journalist Arnel Patawaran of Manila Bulletin expressed utmost displeasure towards the Duterte critics for regurgitating the same accusation over and over again on social media.

Mr. Patawaran argued that any Filipino can sue the government if they believed they are guilty of any wrongdoing since the right to sue has not been revoked by the very government they are accusing of.

Likewise, he urged the noisy critics to give the government due process just as they demand from it.

Check the full text of the post below.

Wait, why are we all so convinced it’s EJK? How long does it take to prove it’s extra-judicial killing? I’m amazed that since the start of the new administration, the wheels of Philippine justice (long accused of moving at such a glacial pace) seem to have moved at speeds so unprecedented that in two months 1,000, 2,000, up to 3,000 EJKs (the figures vary) have been reported, even by international media.

There are drug-related killings for sure, as there have always been, but, but–

–a crime is a crime, murder or homicide, but it’s not extra-judicial, unless it is a government action…

–if a tainted policeman kills to cover his tracks, that’s a criminal in action, that’s a criminal in uniform, not government doing the crime…

–if it’s self-defense (I know this is sooo subject to abuse, but a policeman, like each of us and given the stakes are high in a drug war, has every right to defend himself…That’s why we need to prove whether or not it is self-defense beyond extra-judicial opinion).

Also, the government has not suspended any of our rights to sue it on suspicion of wrongdoing or to investigate every crime we attribute to it. What has the investigation initiated by De Lima unearthed? Has there been any solid proof?

If we have enough proof, then we must give this government what we demand from it: Due process.